Garment hanger



1947- M. J. STRASSBURG 2,413,793-

GARMENT HANGER Filed Jan. 19, 1945 INVENTOR Morn'sJStraawu 2 BY M a! ATTORNEYS Patented Jan. 7, 194? UNITED STATES AlENT oFFics 1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to garment hangers, and more particularly to hangers oi the type adapted to clamp garments between jaw-like members for frictionally holding same.

The structure illustrated herein as embodying the invention comprises a trousers hanger. However, the invention is not to be limited to this specific use, since it has utility in connection with hangers for skirts and other articles, whether of apparel or not, the application to a trousers hanger being shown by way of example.

One type of trousers hanger in everyday use comprises a pair of permanently bowed wooden strips which function as the jaws of a clamp, to frictionally seize and hold the trousers at their cufis or bottom edges so that they may be hung from a rail or peg. The bowed strips are carried at their centers by the ends of a wire form having the shape of a hook, the wire being doubled or folded back on itself so that the fold of the wire constitutes the bill of the hook. A small wire figure-8 rides on the two Wire portions constituting the stem of the hook, acting as a drawlink to bring the jaws together for gripping the trousers, and usually felt strips are provided on the inside surfaces of the jaws to prevent press marks on the trouser cuiTs, and to prevent pulling of threads from the trousers by the wood fibres.

In spite of the precaution of providing the Wooden jaws with felt strips or pads in these prior devices, the cufis of trousers suspended for any length of time continue to show marks in the form of the outline of the wooden jaws. Also, very frequently, the jaws become released when supporting a pair of trousers, so that the latter are dropped, and found later in a wrinkled condition on the floor.

In another type of trousers hanger several U-shaped clips are mounted at their folded ends on a bracket so that the arms extend horizontally and may receive and frictionally hold pairs of trousers suspended from their bottoms. In this type of hanger the trousers are generally improperly supported because the clamping pressure at the ends of the clamp arms is much less than the clamping pressure where the arms are joined together at the fold, and as a result the trousers are not held firmly enough to prevent their slipping where the pressure is insufficient, causing wrinkling of the cuffs, or in the case of cuflless trousers causing them to drop and be found later in a wrinkled state on the floor.

The present invention obviates the above disadvantages and shortcomings of these prior devices. This is accomplished by the provision of a garment or trousers hanger comprising a generally U-shaped elongate clip adapted to receive and frictionally support a pair of trousers adjacent their -bottom edges, the clip having combination hook means for suspending it from a support and auxiliary spring means for applying supplementary pressure to the clip arms so that the latter at their free ends firmly and securely hold the trousers.

The clip may engage the trouser legs immediately above the cuff line in the case of trousers of medium or heavy material, and where the trousers are of a lighter material theclip may receive and frictionally hold the cuff portions of the trousers. By the provision of the auxiliary spring means the clip is able to exert sufficient pressure, especially at its extremities, to satisfactorily support a pair of trousers without danger of the latter dropping, or slipping and becoming wrinkled while still being supported.

Also, since with trousers of ordinary weight or of heavier weight material the arms of the clip engage the trousers immediately above the cuffs, no mark is made on the cuffs while the trousers are suspended and not in use, and the press marks where the clip does engage the legs of the trousers are but very slight. This latter is partly due to the fact the combined thickness of the trousers at the .leg portions immediately above the cuffs, where the clamp engages and holds the trousers, involves four plies of material, and'is much less than the combined thickness at the cufis, where sixteen plies of material are involved, and as a result the efiect of the clamping is generally not such as to leave a mark which might be notice-v able during wearing of the trousers.

In the form of the invention shown herein by way of example, the clip portion of the hanger i made of wire having a certain amount of resiliency. Where the wire is folded back on itself a comparatively large radius is provided so that the spacing of the Wires at the fold is substane tially greater than the spacing where the wires clamp the trousers. By the provision of this greater spacing at the fold, there is avoided the likelihood of the trouser legs being pinched and becoming wrinkled or caught at this point. Intermediate the ends of the wires or arms of the clip, the spacing is again made greater by olisetting the Wire, to accommodate the greater thickness of the trouser legs at this point due to the side seams.

At their free ends the wire arms are bent outwardly or away from each other to provide a mouth or entrance means, so that the trousers may be received between the arms without becoming caught. The bent ends are shown as being in the form of eyes, thereby removing the sharp-cut edges of the wire from prominence and preventing same from catching on the material of the trousers.

The suspension means for the clip comprises a length of wire doubled back on itself and having the shape of a hook, the fold of the wire comprising the sill of the hook and the ends of the wire being respectively secured to the arms of the clip adjacent the center portions, preferably by welding. The hook is so arranged that the wire thereof exerts a pressure on the arms of the clip, to supplement the pressure provided at the fold, and as a result of this the free ends of the clip exert a substantial pressure to retain the trousers in their initial clamped position. In addition, the hook wire serves to maintain the arms of the clip in a common plane at all times, whether the arms are spread apart or are close together.

The portions of the hook wir which are secured to the arms are preferably substantially parallel and widely spaced apart for a distance, so that clearance is provided between them for the cuffs of a pair of trousers.

Other features and advantages will hereinafter appear.

In the accompanying drawing:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a trousers hanger embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the hanger.

Fig, 3 is a section on line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is an end elevation of the hanger.

Fig. 5 isa side elevation of the hanger, shown clamping and supporting a pair of trousers of usual or of heavier than usual thickness of material, the clip of the hanger engaging the trouser legs adjacent the cuifs, and

Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the hanger supporting a pair of trousers of lighter than usual thickness of material, the clip of the hanger engaging the cuifs of the trousers.

As shown, the trousers hanger of the present invention comprises a generally U-shaped elongate clip It) to which is secured, intermediate its ends, suspension or supporting means in the form of a hook H, so that the clip may be suspended in a horizontal position from a bar or peg.

The clip Id, which may be of any suitable strip material, is preferably formed of comparatively thick round steelwire having a certain amount of resiliency, and comprises a pair of closely spaced arms l2 and I3 which extend side by side, one pair of adjacent ends of the arms being connected together by the integral fold M.

For the purpose of enabling the clip I B to firmly support a pair of trousers or other garment without wrinkling, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, the fold Id of the clip is formed with a comparatively large inside radius so that the spacing between the ends of the arms I? and [3 at this point is substantially greater than the spacing where the arms clamp the garment. Figs. 5 and 6, the creased edges Ida and Mb of trousers being supported by the clip may be deep- 1y received into the fold M, and will not be unduly pinched, nor wrinkled because of binding.

At their unconnected ends l5 and It, the arms l2 and is of the clip are bent outward, and may be shaped in the form of eyes I511 and 16a respectively, so that an entrance means or mouth is provided, to enable a pair of trousers to be readily passed between the ends and be received Thus, as indicated in and held by the clip it without becoming caught, or without other undue restraint.

In order to provide for the additional thickness of the trouser legs due to the side seams thereof, the center portions I241 and i3a respectively of the arms l2 and i 3 are offset outwardly so that a greater spacing exists between said portions as shown.

According to the present invention means are provided for reliably supplementing the inherent pressure which the unconnected ends of the arms :2 and 13 of the clip exert against the trousers in supporting the latter. This means is shown as being combined with the hook or suspension means H, which is formed of continuous wire stock preferably similar to the wire of the clip iii. By augmenting or supplementing the variable and indeterminate pressure which the ends 55 and E5 of the clip apply to a pair of supported trousers by virtue of their connection with the fold i 4 of the clip, a strong frictional grip may be had on the trousers at these ends, and this, together with the strong grip at the folded end of the clip due to the existence of th fold l4, results in a secure slip-resistant clamping efiect which maintains trousers in the position they are originally inserted, Without danger of wrinkling or dropping to the floor.

As shown, referring to Figs, 1 and d, the wire of the suspension means H is folded or doubled back on itself and shaped to provide a hook H the bill lla of which comprises the fold of the wire. The ends it and E9 of the wire comprising the suspension means are connected respectively to the arms 22 and is adjacent the center portions of the latter, preferably by welding, and the hook is so arranged that the wire ends '38 and 1e exert an inward pressure on the arms !2 and 53, which augments or supplements the force provided by th fold Id of the clip. As a result, the pressure which may be exerted by the end portions id and it of the clip is increased considerably, so that trousers supported and clamped by the clip it will be securely frictionally held against inadvertent slippage.

In prior resilient U-shaped clips for holding trousers, the pressures exerted by the clip ends was insufficient for the reason that, adjacent the fold pf the clip, the spreading of the arms by the trousers caused the clamping force transmitted to the clip ends to be lessened. However, by the present invention, even though the presence of the trousers between the portions @211 and 53b of the clip, adjacent the fold M, causes these portions to spread, and lessens the clamping force transmitted to the clip ends 15 and it, the latter wiil still apply strong clamping pressure as supplied by the suspension wires 18 and is which are not spread apart by engagement with the trousers.

In the broader aspects of the intervention the clip 56 may be formed of plastic material, not especially characterized by its resiliency, and the clamping pressures provided almost wholly by the resilient suspension means l 5,

Referring to Fig. 4, the wire portions l 8 and 15 of the suspension means i! are preferably substantially parallel to each other and widely spaced for a distance, so that clearance is provided for the cuffs 29 of trousers 2! when the latter are sup ported as shown in Fig. 5.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 3, the wire portions l 8 and iii of the suspension means I! are secured to the arms l2 and i3 slightly off-center, the points of connection being nearer to the end portions l5 and E6 of the clip than to the fold l4.

By this arrangement the force exerted by the wire portions l8 and I9 is more directly transmitted to the end portions 15 and IS with less loss due to leverage. Also, the high point of the hook I! may be brought directly over the center of the arms l2 and I3 without offsetting the stem of the hook as much as would be otherwise necessary. The wire of the suspension means ll may be finished with a lacquer if desired, although at present it is preferred to have the wire copper plated, as in the case of the clip Ill, and I have found that a wire diameter of approximately is satisfactory for both the clip I0 and hook I I.

Variations and modifications may be made within the scope of this invention and portions of the improvements may be used without others.

I claim: A trousers hanger comprising an elongate generally U-shaped resilient clip, the arms of which extend alongside each other in spaced relationship, the spacing of the arms at their center portions being greater than the spacing at each side of said portions, said clip being so arranged that the arm may be spread apart at their free ends and slipped over a pair of superposed trouser legs adjacent the cuiis whereby the seams of the legs occupy the larger space between the arms; a pair of spaced rods respectively secured to the outside surfaces of the arms at their spaced center portions, said rods being substantially parallel with each other and extending generally at right angles to the arms so that clearance is thereby provided for the cuffs of the trousers; and a resilient hook-shaped member connected to the ends of the rods for suspending the hanger from a support and for applying a force to the rods so that the latter exert pressure on the arms to supplement the holding pressure of the clip.

MORRIS J. STRASSBURG. 

